maitre-dish n.— «Both worked at the Fog City Diner; Doug as bartender, Nancy as “maitre-dish.”» —“After a few years, he fit the picture” by Louise Rafkin San Francisco Chronicle (California) July...
tuxedo cat n.— «Someone I knew in college rescued a litter of kittens at abt 1 week of age and I ended up taking Gummitch home to my mother. He was a beautiful orange tuxedo cat with striped legs and tail, a lovely face, and a terrific...
In this week’s installment of Slang This!, a member of the National Puzzlers League tries to separate the real slang terms from the fake ones. Try this one: If you have chutzpah, might you also be said to “have the stitches” to get...
non’trée n.— «Bay Area waiters have a nickname for many of their customers these days: the non’trée. Non’trée (pronounced “non-tray”) refers to the folks who order appetizers rather than a pricier entree—a popular practice in...
bust on someone v. phr.— «Their story is that Christian picked up the gun at the home of his girlfriend, Laurene Landon. He told Cheyenne he was going to “bust on” her lover. Christian walked into his father’s house, started...
stick drink n.— «Want to try a stick drink? They can be quite good, you know. The term is, I believe, quite new—though the concept is not—and it’s used to describe drinks in which some of the ingredients are muddled. With a stick. Most...